Misplaced
by FriendOwl
Summary: Story redone old title was 'Maboroshi'. She's never quite fit in and Kastu-sensei refuses to bring up the past. She makes new friends, and tries to find out her own secret. But when Obito dies, Kakashi is left to explain things to Maboroshi.


Okay, so…. New story time. PLEASE, _PLEASE_, forgive me for not ever updating, those of you who actually pay attention to my work. My internet died, school was eating my soul, the story's plot grew legs and ran away, and my house was hit by a meteor that was containing rabid mutant sporks (okay, maybe not the last one but… still…) Well, those of you who read "Maboroshi" should know that this is the remake of it, and is now set in the past when Kakashi was young…

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of its characters, those are Kishimoto's babies. However, my OCs and my plot are _my _babies… and I will go Mama Bear on you if steal them. Anyway, please enjoy my story!

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><p>"Katsu…" the Fourth Hokage folded his hands patiently and sighed. "I don't see why you're making this a bigger deal than it really is."<p>

"We both know we don't have the men to spare Minato-" Katsu quickly corrected himself, "- I mean Lord Hokage. But please, just give me an assignment. Even if it's just a B-rank." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Had he been too forward? Katsu had never been good with the formalities ever since Minato had become Hokage, their friendship overshadowing that fact.

The Fourth leaned back and put his face in his hand. Massaging his temples, he said, "Two weeks' vacation. That's an order Katsu." He held up his hand when the Jounin was about to protest, "I'm doing this as your friend. Go! See friends, spiff up the shop, travel, shut down bars." He threw the last one with a smirk.

"Damn it…" Katsu muttered. Two weeks with nothing to do. Yippy. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strode out of the room before his friend could comment. His expression must have mirrored his mood, because as he walked the streets to his apartment the crowd gave him a considerably wide berth.

~~o~~

Katsu set down his pack and squinted into the dark distance. He could barely make out the lights of a town some miles away. The Jounin checked his map. He was in the north-eastern part of Fire Country. He figured any hotel there would be better than the woods. Folding his map back into a neat square Katsu slung his bag back over his shoulder strolled on the path towards the town. All the way he whistled something that sounded suspiciously like "The Bear Went Over the Mountain."

The streets of the small town were lit up with colorful paper lanterns that gave off a cheery glow. From somewhere in the cluster of buildings the aroma of baking food teased Katsu's nose.

"Well what have we here?" Katsu queried to himself. A sign on the local all-night bar door read: Closed for the festival. Open tomorrow morning at 6:00 A.M. "Well Hell…" he grumbled.

So that explained all the decorations. What it didn't explain was why he hadn't seen a single person since arriving. Weren't festivals supposed to be… festive? Not like what Katsu got the impression of this ghost town.

He found a hotel with a sign saying it was open. While the bells on the door jingled in announcement to his arrival, an old man smiled up from the front desk. The young Jounin walked up and rested his elbow on the counter and asked nonchalantly, "So what kinda rooms ya got?"

The old man chuckled and replied, "The only ones in town, if that says anything. I have one you can use though."

"How much?" Katsu asked.

"Ha! Don't worry about it son. Think of it as my way of celebrating tonight," the old man said.

Katsu quirked an eyebrow, "What's going on? Where are all the people?"

"They're all down at the lake giving offerings to the spirits." The man said, "Fifty years of peace now, something to truly celebrate, don't you agree?" a humbled air came about the man, only causing more questions to surface in the Jounin's mind.

"Of course I agree." Katsu said sincerely, "But… peace from…?"

The elderly man caught on and explained, "In the years just before I was born, the spirits of the lake would come to this town in the dead of night, without a sound. They would emerge from the lake to claim lives from the village," his eyes unfocused as he went to a different place, "and sometimes in the nights to follow… you could hear their screams of agony on the wind from the lake. It went on for thirty long years. And then the attacks suddenly stopped. And we have celebrated ever since." A wheezing cough escaped his lips as he finished.

Katsu took a moment to consider what he had heard. Time to check out the lake.

"Thank you for the history. You're right, it is something to celebrate- but if you'll excuse me, there's a party at the lake, and I just invited myself." He flashed a smile before the door slammed behind making the bells jingle angrily. Following the main street took him to the lake. He could see children with sparklers and venders trying to sell their goods.

He was stopped by a young woman holding a tray. "Sake?" she asked. Katsu looked at the tray… and found his eyes wandering up to where they shouldn't. He looked away towards the lake quickly as color touched his cheeks. She smiled and inched closer, "You sure? It's still warm."

And that's when Katsu decided: pick up chicks first, creepy lake later.

~~o~~

Katsu stood and brushed the dirt off himself. A look at the moon told him he'd been out of it for a few hours. The woman had run off. So much for having a little fun. The villagers had gone home, sleeping peacefully after an eventful day. He did a double take at the sky and realized it was a blue moon. The brunette sat at the edge of the shore and found a perfectly smooth stone and sent it skipping across the lake's surface. Seven skips, not too bad. And yet he felt obliged to do better.

The Jounin was on his sixth rock and and trying to beat eleven skips. He hurled it across the top of the water. A distinctive _crack _announced that he'd hit something. The echoes were still dying out when Katsu felt something in his feet. The vibration grew to a more definite tremor. Pebbles jumped around and trees lost a few leaves as the shaking got more violent, but the ninja didn't noticed. His eyes were glued to the lake. It was opening.

Water parted to reveal its hidden passage. The shaking stopped as the opening shuddered to a halt_. _Katsu looked down the eerie staircase that seemed to never end its descent into the black. Somehow he knew the Hokage would want to know what was down there.

He crept through the labyrinth of hallways that twisted under the surface. All of his senses were on full alert and picked up the slightest disturbances. Torches lit the way at long and irregular intervals. After awhile the corridors changed from dirt to concrete, signaling he was getting somewhere. He stopped. The passage widened and was lined with doors on either side. The Jounin opened the first door to the right and peered in. It seemed to be a storage room, however its contents appeared to things preserved in jars. The next few rooms bore the same foul collections.

Katsu came upon something of interest when he spotted a desk shoved in the back corner of some sort of office. He sifted through paperwork and paused when a bold title that read "Project Void Gazer" grabbed his attention. His muscles tensed midway through the first paragraph when he heard a noise come from the neighboring room.

Letting the documents slid from his fingers back to the desk, he made a hand symbol. It activated a crystal kuni that formed in his grip. Adrenaline trickled into his veins as Katsu prepared to open the door. The Jounin was surprised by what he found. It was a completely bare concrete room, and a little girl sat in the middle.

Katsu was momentarily confused as to why she was confined. Years of training kicked in and put his guard up- who knew how powerful this child was? He scuffed to a stop and said very gently, "What's your name?" The girl turned to face him. He noticed her eyes were red from crying. Sympathy stabbed at his heart.

"Maboroshi," she replied tentatively.

"That's a lovely name," he complimented.

"Thanks."

Katsu crouched so he was level with her, "Why are you in here?"

Her eyes got bright with restrained tears, "Mom and Dad say I'm 'defective.' I'm a dead end in the Project, and dead ends need to be destroyed," her eyes unfocused and she continued softly, "I'm waiting to die."

Ice cold shivers shot down Katsu's spine. What this little girl said disturbed him to his core. He couldn't imagine what kind of monsters were running this place. He needed to know what this 'Project' was. He reached for her hand.

"Don't touch me!" she shrieked and vanished entirely. A fraction of a heartbeat later she appeared again curled up in the corner sobbing. The Jounin stood there, unable to even know how to react. The child had just _teleported_. Approaching footsteps snapped him out of his stupor and allowed him to deflect an incoming kuni with his own.

"Who gave you the right to be here?" a man hissed angrily. He was a ninja, but for who Katsu didn't know. The three curved blade symbol on his headband was unfamiliar. He wore what seemed to be a variation of a lab coat, and the strangest part of him was his startling red eyes.

"Please don't hurt him dad!" Maboroshi pleaded, "He's nice!"

"Silence! Don't speak in my presence girl," he snapped, "First he dies, then I'll take care of you."

Something he'd never experienced before consumed Katsu. It was an anger he didn't know possible. Strange, considering all he had seen as a Jounin and the work that comes with it. But this was a new level of evil. The man in front of him would kill the innocent girl, with her blond hair and big gray eyes. This father would do that to his own daughter like it was nothing. He had no right to exist.

The enemy had no time to react as a jagged crystal pillar erupted around the man. It reformed to encase him in a turquoise-transparent coffin. The faint glow throbbed with its victim's pulse. In time it died out along with the man inside.

"They're coming," the girl said as silent tears fell, "I can feel them."

"Who?" Katsu asked alarmed. The next enemies wouldn't be defeated so easily.

"The rest of them. They don't want our facility discovered above ground." The fear in her eyes was as plain as the danger they were in.

The Jounin took her in his arms and ran for the door, "We're getting out of here. I'll protect you." her only response was to bury her face into his shoulder. He flew through the maze of corridors until he saw the stairs ahead, the moon's glow like a hopeful beacon. Their pursuers' advance was haunting with their footsteps getting ever more audible.

"Run into the village, and hide. I'll find you ok? Promise. I'm going to take care of things here," she looked frightened, so he urged her with a sharp, "Go!"

Katsu drew himself up to his full height, and started taking long and deliberate strides towards his opponents. He tapped into his chakra and everything began to crystallize in his wake. He would be the only one to leave this place alive.

~~o~~

The sun was making its timeless ascent into the sky by the time Katsu emerged from the lake. He favored his left leg that had been slashed in the fight. He sealed the entrance with his most impenetrable crystal jutsu barrier. All that was left was a graveyard below.

He found the small precious heap that was Maboroshi curled in the alcove of a apartment's front steps. He scooped the child up into his arms to balance on his hip. There was something right about that simple action, like it was meant to be that way.

"What happened?" she asked sleepily.

"They can't hurt anyone anymore."

"That's good."

The Jounin turned and walked down the street as he thought about what his next step would be. The answer was obvious, "How about we go home?" there was no point in waiting for a response, because the girl was already asleep again in his warm envelop. She couldn't be anymore than six. After what he had just experienced, he was surprised she had even lived that long in that hell-hole.

~~o~~

"I should have you stripped to Chunin level and make you teach at the academy for the rest of your life, and even that would be generous. You know it is forbidden to act on your own to such a magnitude."

"Yes Lord Hokage." Katsu gave a respectful bow. He had thought this might occur on his return to Konohagakure.

"However," the Fourth continued, "taking into account the proof of the child, documents you retrieved, and that you are my friend, I know you made the right decision Katsu."

He held his blond friend's gaze, "Thanks Minato." The Hokage just smiled and waved it off.

"You're sure you want to keep the girl?" the Hokage asked as he pushed some paperwork across his desk. Katsu clicked open his pen, which signaled his unspoken 'Yes.'

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><p>Ok! Thank you so very much for reading! I know it's a long prologue, but it all ties in in the end :) Thanks Final Symphony and SanrilTsukina for not letting me trash this story and pushing me through my serious writer's block. I think this is much better than what the story had originally started out as, and I would seriously appreciate it if you reviewed and tell me what you think! Keep tuned to see how their lives take a turn...<p> 


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